Just a Pencil

9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” Jonah 4:9-11

I am no different from many other teachers all over the country. When Wal-Mart is full of yellow cardboard boxes each summer, I go and buy supplies for my classroom. One thing I usually purchase for my students is a couple big boxes of yellow pencils so my students don’t have to carry them from their regular classrooms to mine.

The first day I had students for classes this year, I had several brand-new pencils out for my students. As I put them out, I noticed that the erasers in these new pencils were just a tad longer than normal. Now, I’m sure that sounds like a good idea to most people, but what I know is that a longer eraser usually ends up breaking off right at the metal band - if not just below it - the first time a student goes to erase. Since I knew it was likely to happen, I warned my students to be gentle when they used the eraser so they wouldn’t break.

We hadn’t even gotten to the point in the lesson where the students were actually using their pencils when I saw one particular student’s eyes go wide. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but he managed to break the eraser off before he had even used the pencil.

I am not going to lie to you, my first instinct - my gut reaction - was pure frustration! I was irritated! I had just warned them about this very thing! In fact, I was starting to compose a lecture in my head about listening and treating our supplies more carefully.

But, right then, I felt a tiny prick in my heart. It’s just a pencil. Look at his face. He’s waiting to see how you react, and he’s bracing for it. My frustration level instantly deflated. I took a deep breath and let go of that lecture. Instead, I chose grace. I handed him a new pencil and went on with the lesson.

This last week, I studied the book of Jonah. If you’ve been in church much as a child, you are most likely familiar with the story of how Jonah disobeyed God’s command to go to Ninevah and ended up in the belly of that giant fish. You probably know that after three days and some prayer time, Jonah was vomited onto land and then obeyed God and went to Ninevah.

But the part of the story that we don’t often teach our children about comes later in the book. After Jonah preaches to the citizens of Ninevah, they humbly repent, and God, in response to their repentance, pours out His grace and does not destroy them.

Jonah, however, was not happy about this outcome. You see, Jonah didn’t want the Ninevites to be spared. He wanted God to punish them and bring the destruction he warned them about.

So Jonah goes out in the nearby desert and sits down under a shelter that he builds. Then God makes a plant grow up overnight to provide Jonah some relief from the punishing sun. Still Jonah is angry. The next morning God sends a worm to destroy the plant so that it dies and Jonah is left in the scorching heat with no shade. At this point, Jonah is absolutely livid.

That’s when God asks him a pointed question: “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

You see, sometimes I get angry because of my circumstances. Someone breaks a pencil eraser that I bought with my own money, and I get mad. A coworker gets an opportunity that I wasn’t given, and I become angry. A parent is demanding something I feel is unrealistic, and I get irritated. I could go on . . .

But is it right for me to be angry about these things?

God goes on to tell Jonah that He is concerned about people who do not know Him. He is concerned about people’s spiritual needs, their eternity.

Am I concerned about people like God is concerned about people? Do I put my own wants, my own comfort, my own well-being, above all else? Or do I have God’s heart to help those around me know the amazing power of God’s grace?

I know that I personally need to be reminded that sometimes, it’s just a pencil. Let go of the anger. Be a conduit of God’s grace so that others might turn to Him and find eternal life. So if you see me carrying around a pencil with the eraser ripped off, you’ll know that I’m trying to remember this lesson that God is teaching me - to have more compassion and to be full of His mercy each day.

Father God, You are so compassionate towards us. Your grace and mercy are extended to us over and over. I know we live in a world full of people who don’t know You, who seek only their own gain, who regularly practice evil in order to get ahead. When we encounter these people in our daily life, help us to remember that we don’t deserve Your love either. Remind us of their need for You, just as we need You. Help us to be merciful and full of grace, just like You.

Vision Check

Image found at: https://mywhiteboards.com/glassboard-marker-trays.html

Have you ever felt like God has had to hit you upside the head to get your attention?

I had an after-school teacher’s meeting that I was in charge of one day a couple years ago. For the meeting, I had taken some equipment from my own classroom to the meeting room, and afterwards I had to put it all back away.

I don’t know if any of you are like this, but I tend to move quickly and try to do things as efficiently as possible, especially at 4:45 when it’s time to go home. So, I was moving quickly around my room putting these different items back where they belong.

One of those items was my wireless router. I had to plug it into the network box, which was located right at the edge of my whiteboard, and also to the power strip which sat on the floor right beneath my board. I plugged it into the network box, no problem, and then very quickly leaned over to plug in the power cord.

It was at that point that my efficient and timely progress came to an abrupt halt. When I leaned over to plug in that cord, my forehead suddenly slammed into the aluminum tray sticking out from the bottom of the board. You know, the marker tray that holds a few tools that I literally pick up and set down over and over again every day!

After nearly knocking myself silly, I had a few thoughts in rapid succession. First, “OW! That really hurt!” Second, “Thank you, Lord, that no one else was here to see that because that was really dumb!” And third, “How in the world did I do that?” I mean, I could plainly see that tray there. I knew it was there. But in my rush, with my eyes solely focused on those three little holes in the power strip that I was aiming for, I failed to truly see the bigger picture of my surroundings. My focus was too narrow.

Unfortunately, I think I often have this same problem in my spiritual life. I am often focused only on my own little world -- my family and all our activities, my work, my to-do list, my bills, my problems, etc. I don’t often take the time to look around me for how and where God is working.

This week my Sunday School class studied a passage from 2 Kings chapter 6 where Elisha keeps informing the king of Israel about his enemy’s plans. When the enemy king figures out that it is Elisha who is sharing his secrets, the king hunts Elisha down to capture him. When Elisha’s servant wakes up and sees the enemy king’s army of chariots surrounding the city they are in, the servant panics in fear. Here is Elisha’s response:

16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
That speaks to my heart! God was there the whole time. He had a plan. He had resources - a whole army ready to respond and act on their behalf. But the servant couldn’t see them until Elisha prayed for God to reveal it to him.

How many times do I run around in a panic because I don’t see what God is doing? How often do I let fear and stress and anxiety rule in my heart because I am not even trying to see where God is working?

And do I regularly pray for God to open the eyes of those around me who are panicked and fearful because of their life circumstances? Am I ever the calm reassurance for someone that God is right there ready with His perfect plan?

I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now that has you full of fear and stress, but God does. I believe that our Sovereign, Almighty God has a plan for you and for me that does not involve running around in a panic or being paralyzed by fear or overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. He wants us to see Him, to hear His voice, and to trust His perfect love for us.

I know life is not easy on this earth. But I know that God has promised to be with us always. He is right here - even when we cannot see Him.

Lord, I pray for each and every one who is reading this post. I pray that they will be granted a glimpse of You today. Show them that You are with them. Show them that You are in control. Help us, Lord, to trust You more and more. Help us to pray for one another and to encourage one another. Open our eyes that we might see.

For small groups:

Do you have a story of a time when you saw God working?  Share it with your group!

Like the Moon

Photo found at: https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6084/6142430996_37b335c4d0_b.jpg

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations. Psalm 67:1-2

Last week we had a full harvest moon shining. It was beautiful! I love to gaze out my bedroom window after all the lights are out while the full moon is shining over the landscape. It is amazing how much light there is, especially when you consider that the moon is only reflecting the sun’s light. It is not producing that light on its own. It is only catching the sun’s light and beaming it back at us.

But the moon is not always that bright. At some points in the lunar cycle, the moon is not reflecting light to us at all. Sometimes it’s just a tiny sliver. Other times it is completely, fully aglow with the sun’s light. It all depends on where the moon is along its path around the earth. We can be a reflection of God’s glory to those around us, like the moon reflecting the sun’s light. But in order to do so, we must be in the proper position. We have to be in God’s presence to catch His light, but we do not have to produce the light ourselves.

Moses experienced this in an amazing way. In Exodus 34, Moses spends 40 days on Mt. Sinai receiving God’s Ten Commandments. In verse 29, we read “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.” His face was literally shining because he had been in God’s presence -- so much so that the Israelites were afraid to approach him. But then the Israelites came to accept this as a visible sign that Moses had been in God’s presence and had received His word. And in 2 Corinthians 3:13, Paul tells us that Moses used a veil to prevent the Israelites from seeing this glow fade away.

As I reflect on that, I wonder: Do those around me see God’s light shining from me? Does my life reflect His glory? How long does that radiance last before it starts to fade?

I know that some days I do not shine because I do not spend enough time in God’s presence. I want to be alight with God’s love every day, but I don’t always receive that light like I could. And even when I do, it is easy for me to be sidetracked by life and allow that glow to fade away.

I slept too late, so I hurried through my time with God so that I wouldn’t be late to work. I allowed a student or a coworker to dim my light with a few words that made me angry. I hurried past a hurting friend so that I could get something else finished and missed the chance to encourage her. I reacted with harsh words when someone was critical of me. I could go on and on.

So how can I be a better reflection of God’s light? I can play worship music as I get ready in the morning and allow its truth to sink into my heart. I can place scriptures around me to remind me of God’s truth during the day. I can give myself time to meditate on my daily scripture reading and work to memorize those verses. I can sit quietly and listen during my prayer time so that I can hear God’s voice. I can consciously look for ways to minister to those around me through acts of service, encouraging words that build others up, or even a smile and a hug.

It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in someone’s day. I think the key to reflecting God’s light is to allow His Spirit to control, guide, and flow through us. If we are turned towards Him, we can shine with His light.

Lord, help us to be better reflections of You. Help us to be steadfast in our efforts to spend time in Your presence. Teach us to avoid the enemy’s distractions so that we can stay turned towards You. We want to shine Your light in our dark world and spread the love, joy, and peace that You have so graciously given us!

A New Day

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

A new school year has begun. I love the start of the school year! The rooms and hallways are clean and shiny. The pencils are long and have full erasers. The crayons are all still pointy and sharp. Student desks are neat and tidy, and so is mine!

But the best part of a new year is the energy and excitement in the building. Teachers are excited to get to know their students and try out the wonderful new ideas they’ve planned over the summer. And students are eager to impress and please their new teacher, too. Everyone starts fresh in a new school year. On day one -- even week one or two -- students and teachers alike expect to have good days ahead.

But I know that before long, the new will wear off. The excitement will wane. The students’ best behavior and desire to please are less evident. Things become routine and even that new idea that we are still excited about right now will become mundane.

And if you’ve been in a classroom much at all, you know that over time expectations begin to change. As teachers, we begin to anticipate bad behaviors from certain students, and sometimes we treat them differently because of that. Even when we don’t do it intentionally, we begin to see patterns in our kids’ behavior and start to treat them differently because of it.

I saw a Facebook post that advised teachers to get to know their students without letting last year’s teacher’s opinions taint their own. It said that we should allow each student to start with a clean slate. I wish that was as easy to do as it sounds!

Instead, I often start to view everything that certain students do through a different lens. I start looking for them to misbehave or to have a bad attitude. I start expecting them to make bad choices and be disrespectful--even before they have walked in my classroom. And I start to allow my feelings and irritation change how I interact with that student. I am less patient and kind and more grumpy and short with them.

I was thinking about this today. I realized that God is not like us, and I am so grateful for that! God sees our mistakes and failures and poor choices. He knows all of our sin and bad behavior patterns, but He does not stop loving us because of it. His mercy and compassion is new every morning! He forgives quickly and loves constantly -- every day.

I am going to challenge myself--and you, too. This school year, I want to allow each student (or coworker even) to start fresh each day. I want to show love and mercy and expect good things every day.

We all have bad days, and some of our students have more bad than anyone should have to endure as a child. When they come to us, there is sometimes a whole lot of bad that has happened at home the night before or just that morning. They need me to have God’s grace and mercy in full measure every morning! And that is not going to come naturally! I am going to have to be full of God’s Holy Spirit each day. And that will require some intentional prayer time and meditation on verses like Lamentations 3:21-23.

So let’s pray for one another as we continue through this school year. Let’s pray that we could learn how to wipe those mental and emotional slates clean every morning and greet our students and coworkers with mercy and compassion like God has for us.

Dear, Gracious, Merciful God, grant us the ability to start new every morning in the relationships with our students and coworkers. Help us to remember the amazing grace and mercy that You show us over and over again.  Give us hearts of compassion for those around us. Give us the ability to separate the behavior from the person and to love them like You do.

Preferential Seating

“Come near to God and He will come near to you.” James 4:8a

School is back in session! Welcome back!  

When I was a classroom teacher, I always allowed my students to choose their own desks when they came in with their families for Open House night. As my students came in, I told them to choose a desk, but that I would be moving everyone around very soon.

I don’t remember ever having a student say, “I think I should sit right up front where I can see and hear clearly and have fewer distractions so that I can experience optimal levels of learning.” Ha! Absolutely not! No, no, no. It was all about sitting beside their friends, or people whom they wanted to call friends.

However, being the wise teacher that I was, I knew almost immediately on the first day of school who should likely be separated from whom if there was going to be any learning occurring in the room! And the desks only stayed where they were for about the first two days. After that, I often spent many hours arranging and rearranging the student desks so that each student was in a good spot to be successful in our room.

As the school year progressed, I often had students who were supposed to always be given “preferential seating.” I was supposed to make sure that they were seated in a place in the classroom that helped them to be successful. Often that meant that they needed to be close to me as I was teaching so that I could prompt them to stay on task or explain directions or even just be heard more clearly.

In life, I often get to choose my seat. Sometimes I wonder if I make wise choices about where to sit. Who am I choosing to sit next to? Is it an arrangement that is working for me?

In Luke 10:38-41, we read the story of sisters Mary and Martha. When Jesus came to the home of these sisters, Martha was scurrying around doing all the work of hosting Jesus and his followers, and she became frustrated with her sister because Mary was not helping her. (Am I the only one that relates to her?) This is a familiar story, but when I read it recently, I was struck by the fact that Mary had chosen to sit and listen to Jesus. It wasn’t that Mary just happened to accidentally end up sitting by Jesus. It wasn’t that she was purposely trying to frustrate Martha or that she was avoiding the work Martha was trying to do. Mary recognized the importance of the opportunity she had been given to sit and learn from Jesus, and she took advantage of it.

Friends, Jesus would love for us to choose the seat right next to Him. He wants us to spend more time with Him.

As I think about the school year that has just begun, I know how easy it will be to allow myself to be distracted and pulled away by the many “preparations” that the job requires. I want to continue to make the decision to sit with Jesus each day, to soak up His love and His wisdom, to receive His joy and His peace, to know Him more intimately so I can recognize His voice and obey. I know that if I can commit to spending more time sitting with Jesus this year, not only will I benefit, but so will others around me.

Lord, help me to be more committed to making time to sit with you each day. Thank you for drawing close to us when we draw close to You.